March is a time of change. You can feel it on campus; you can feel it in your car; you can even feel it when you go to the bathroom. Change is in the air. Consider week 10 the postseason of winter term, where all our hard work is rendered meaningless if we don’t bring our ‘A’ games. But don’t worry – Oregon Ducks have a history of showing up strong in March. Just look at our men’s basketball team, which showed USC and the rest of the country on Saturday that Oregon basketball is more than a hobby. We may not have final exams until next week, but our team faces its first test on Friday, when it plays the University of Ohio at Miami in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
March is a time for excitement. A few sporadic days of clear, sunny skies remind us that Spring is trying its hardest to come around, and just two weeks stand between us and our much-needed vacation. But vacation is the last thing on the minds of the boys from Mac Court. Their weekend trip to Spokane for the first two rounds of the tournament is strictly business.
March is a time of evolution – a time when anything that can happen will happen, and every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The first and only rule of the NCAA Tournament is that there are no rules. Records, statistics, history … they all go out the window. Two teams take to the court with championship dreams, and only one leaves with those dreams intact. Coach Ernie Kent has evolved his team from last season’s question mark into this year’s running-and-gunning, three-point shooting exclamation point.
March is a time for heroes. The men who represent Oregon basketball won 26 games, compared with just seven losses. They struck fear into the hearts of Pac-10 opponents and national elites across the country, beating three top-10 teams this year. The squad is led by Senior guard Aaron Brooks, the heart and soul of this team. He’s great, definitely NBA-caliber. Unless he’s reading this. If you’re reading this, Aaron, your assists-per-game rate is unimpressive, and you need to show up more in the second half. How about Tajuan Porter? The diaper dandy, inspiring the vertically challenged with each three pointer; he’s complemented Brooks to form a guard tandem that has driven Oregon’s most exciting team in decades. Other standouts include Malik Hairston, Maarty Leunen and Bryce Taylor, who made Saturday’s Pac-10 Tournament championship game his Magnum Opus with 32 points, going a perfect 11-for-11 from the floor.
There’s just one problem. None of that matters in March, a time of struggle. Excitement for the Ducks is simmering in Eugene and throughout Oregon, like the early stages of a volcanic eruption. Sixty-three other teams could not care less, though. Our road to the championship will encounter some rough stops along the way. Florida, Wisconsin and Notre Dame are among the teams we’ll likely have to knock off just to make the Final Four. But where there’s a struggle, there’s hope. This is the NCAA Tournament. The Big Dance. Our chances are as good as anyone’s, better than most. If past tournaments have taught us one thing, it’s to expect the unexpected.
March is a time for destiny. Sixty-four teams; sixty-four schools; sixty-four communities – all with great expectations. That sixty-three teams’ tournament experiences will end in defeat, and sixty-three communities will watch dejectedly as a single victor cuts down the net, is no deterrent from March’s madness. The tournament brings out the best qualities of sport. Legends are born with a single shot. Players put their heart and soul out on the court, giving their all until there’s nothing left to give, then giving some more. For most, it won’t be enough. For those who fall but want it badly enough, though, the tournament will be waiting for them next year. And that’s why, more than anything else, March is a time for basketball. Are you ready?
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